Volunteers help woman shot in face build new life in Camillus

Peter Gaworecki says that to talk with Michelle Fox, nine months after the event she refers to as “her accident,” you wouldn’t know anything is wrong.

And he’s right. Fox is an upbeat young woman, optimistic and especially grateful last week, just a day before Thanksgiving. She laughs when Gaworecki lightheartedly calls her a “mall rat,” and speaks enthusiastically about the lemon theme her new kitchen will have.

But there’s another layer to Fox, and it’s betrayed by the surgical mask that covers her face up to the eyebrows and the small crocheted curtain that hides her tracheostomy tube. Reminders that Fox is not the “normal” 29-year-old mom she was before she was accidentally shot in the face by her husband last February.

A tragic accident

The incident was widely publicized. On Feb. 21, Fox’s husband, Mariusz Burchacki, was showing her how parts from his old shotgun could be interchanged with his new gun when the weapon fired into Fox’s face. Burchacki was sentenced in August to five years’ probation and time served for felony second-degree assault.

Since then, Fox has been in and out of the hospital and living at Van Duyn Home & Hospital. But she and a crew of dedicated volunteers hope that in the next week or so, that will change, when Fox and her daughters Maya, 6, and Malana, 12 months, move into the brand new addition on her parents’ Camillus home.

‘You can’t let it consume you’

Gaworecki said construction of the addition began in September and is nearly complete.

“They were asking for volunteers, and I raised my hand,” he said. He had never met Fox, but his wife had worked with Fox’s mother, and he had heard about her situation.

The accident had blinded Fox, and with a gamut of surgeries left to endure and two young children to raise, she was going to need assistance daily. So a two-bedroom addition, complete with a bathroom and dining area, was planned for her family’s home on Camillus Road.

Gaworecki said that’s where the core group of volunteers came in, stepping up to the plate to help a stranger. Individuals, charity groups and local businesses have donated time, materials and money to the effort, including the Church of the Bells Disaster Recovery team and Knifetown American Legion Post 1540. In April, a fundraiser was held to help Fox manage medical expenses and a pancake breakfast was put on by last month by the Legion.

Ed Cook, owner of A to Z Contracting, heard about the project in the early stages and has since donated what he estimated to be between $20,000 and $25,000 worth of labor.

“It was an opportunity to come here and help someone who deserved it,” Cook said.

That Fox has such an incredibly positive attitude and sense of hope has certainly helped to motivate the crew. Cook and Gaworecki note that when construction began, Fox could hardly walk, but just that morning she had strolled easily up and down the street using a cane for the blind, adapting quickly to her new circumstances.

But to Fox, it was as simple as making a choice to be happy.

{Q}”I chose to be positive,” Fox says. “You can’t let it consume you.”{Q}

‘Ask me anything’

In the kitchen of her parents’ house, Fox talks about her impending surgeries with such a matter-of-fact tone you might think she’s reading a grocery list. The way she points to her face, describing the portion where there is no longer bone, reminds you otherwise. She lifts the hem of her shirt to show her feeding tube, explaining that the surgery will require her last molars to be removed so she will be back on a diet of baby food soon, and also off her feet when the doctors take a large piece of her tibia bone to reconstruct her face.

“Ask me anything you want, I’m an open book,” Fox says, and the only time she appears bashful is when Gaworecki mentions money, or the lack thereof.

Gaworecki says the crew is near the “bottom of the bucket,” and though construction is nearly wrapped up, the space still needs furnishings.

While Cook and Gaworecki urge that donations are welcome, Fox counters with gratitude for what she has already received.

“I just want to say thanks at this point,” she says. “It’s incredible, it really is. I’m so thankful for all that they’re doing. That they’re doing all this for me is just amazing.”

What is just as amazing is Fox’s resilience. Having found out just that morning that her Nov. 30 surgery had been postponed –apparently surgical suites get double-booked, too — Fox occupies herself with the interior decoration of her new living space. She points to her green shirt and says she chose that shade of green for her bedroom for its soothing quality — she can no longer see it, but she remembers the color and wants to be surrounded by it during her long recovery.

The community has stepped up to help Fox and her family, but more is needed. If you would like to help, donations can be made to Kathleen A. Fox, Solvay Bank, 4131 W. Genesee St., Syracuse NY 13219.

Helping hands

Gaworecki compiled the following list of volunteers and organizations who have contributed to the efforts to help Fox rebuild her life:

Ron Smith, (excavating)

John Gass, (mason)

Ed Cook, A to Z Contracting

Sander’s Company, (concrete)

Todd, Tim, CJ and Andre at Lowe’s in Camillus

Treelander’s

Joe Buffa, (dumpster)

Vanderhoof, (roofing material)

Taylor Rental in Camillus

Jim McHale, (electric)